KAWASAKI W650 "FRENCH CALAVERA"

I'm very pleased to post here the ride of Jérôme, the guy behind unpneudanslatombe.comHere his description of this exciting W650."This motorcycle is my daily ride, built on a budget.Some parts have been bought, some others especially designed and few handmade by myself.Frame and wheels are stock, with Dunlop K81 TT100 tires ; I like it because it has a vintage look and a modern efficiency, plus its story is associated to the Tourist Trophy.I lowered my bike 3 cm, with Hagon shocks at the rear, and by inserting some shims and a more viscous oil in my forks at the front.A new brake disk from Kagizume was installed (I've never been a big fan of the original one) as was a Brembo stainless steel brake line.

The motor is also in its stock condition, apart from the air filters coming from K&N and a dinojet kit, and the original exhaust which was cut to accept aftermarket megathon before receiving black exhaust wrap.I also drilled two decorative housings, one left, one right.And, to accept the big air filters, some specific flanks were ordered at VD-Classic.

Then, I adapt universal alloy mudguards, shortened to the maximum to still be efficient.Front is mounted on a homemade bracket, as are mini turn signal and the Lucas 477/1 rearlight.Headlight is stock, but lowered by aftermarket alloy bracket.Now it's more in the line of the seat and the tank.The handlebar is also the original one, but it received Beston grips and a mini mirror mounted upside down.At first, I choose a Halcyon bar end mirror, so the left grip was drilled to accept it.I obstruct the hole with a whisky bottle cap, a Bushmills one exactly.Finally, I ordered a seat at Cannock In-Shop.It's a specific model I've helped to design, as Brian didn't have exactly what I was searching for.Now it's in his catalog, and everybody can buy it for his own W650 or W800.Then, it was time to consider the tank.It has been shaved from its knee pads and white paint and varnish were applied, before I put two "Un pneu dans la tombe" stickers on it.

My goal was to build a kick-ass daily ride.I'm keen on this kind of motorcycle, customised in a sort of brat style, literally.But I have to keep some practical aspect, like a passenger seat or the ability to transport a U-lock, so I created a space for that under the seat by modifying the plastic parts which cover the battery and support the tools box.Now I have a bike for everyday and for the week-end, it's reliable and fast enough, probably saves lives due to its very loud pipes, and turns more than one head on its path."